1949 in British music

This is a summary of 1949 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

• February – On hearing of the death of Ernest Walker, Albert Schweitzer writes: "Now the dear, gentle, kind, distinguished Dr. Walker has left this life. Seeing him impressed me deeply each time."^[1]
• 14 July – Kathleen Ferrier performs in the world premiere of Benjamin Britten's Spring Symphony in Amsterdam, with Eduard van Beinum and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, a work written specifically for her.^[2]
• 5 September – Wagnerian tenor Walter Widdop makes his last appearance at The Proms, singing an aria from Lohengrin, only one day before his sudden death.
• date unknown – The Tempo Records jazz record label is founded by Colin Pomroy, Jack Clough, and R.E.G. (Ron) Davies.

Popular music

• "Snowy White Snow and Jingle Bells" by Billy Reid, performed by Dorothy Squires^[3]
• "The Wedding of Lili Marlene" by Tommie Connor^[4]

Classical music: new works

• Malcolm Arnold – Symphony No. 1
• Havergal Brian – Symphony No. 8 in B flat Minor
• Benjamin Britten – Spring Symphony^[5]
• William Walton – Sonata for violin and piano (written for Yehudi Menuhin and Louis Kentner)

Opera

• Benjamin Britten – Let's Make an Opera (The Little Sweep)
• Ralph Vaughan Williams – The Pilgrim's Progress (original version)

Film and Incidental music

• Richard Addinsell – The Passionate Friends directed by David Lean.^[6]
• Arthur Bliss – Christopher Columbus, starring Fredric March.
• Ernest Irving –
  • Kind Hearts and Coronets, starring Alec Guinness.
  • A Run for Your Money, starring Donald Houston and Meredith Edwards.
  • Whisky Galore! directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Basil Radford, Bruce Seton, Joan Greenwood and Gordon Jackson.

Musical theatre

• 22 June – Her Excellency starring Cicely Courtneidge opens at the London Hippodrome
• 15 September – King's Rhapsody, with music by Ivor Novello and lyrics by Christopher Hassall, opens at the Palace Theatre, London.

Musical films

• Maytime in Mayfair, starring Anna Neagle^[7]
• Melody in the Dark, starring Eunice Gayson
• Trottie True, starring Jean Kent and Hugh Sinclair

Births

• 4 January – Margaret Anne Marshall, Scottish soprano
• 19 January – Robert Palmer, singer (died 2003)
• 22 January – Phil Miller, English guitarist
• 6 February – Mike Batt, singer and composer
• 7 February – Alan Lancaster, bass player (Status Quo and The Party Boys)
• 16 February – Lyn Paul, English singer and actress (The New Seekers)
• 26 February – Dame Emma Kirkby, soprano
• 24 March – Nick Lowe, singer-songwriter
• 11 April – Lee Sheriden, singer with Brotherhood of Man
• 13 May – Jane Glover, conductor
• 18 May – Rick Wakeman, multi-instrumentalist and composer
• 21 May – Rosalind Plowright, operatic mezzo-soprano
• 14 June – Alan White, rock drummer (Yes) (died 2022)
• 17 June – Snakefinger, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Residents and Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers) (died 1987)
• 24 June – John Illsley, singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (Dire Straits)
• 3 July – John Verity, guitarist (Argent)
• 12 July – John Wetton, bass guitarist (King Crimson, Roxy Music)
• 15 July
  • John Casken, composer
  • Trevor Horn, record producer, songwriter, musician and singer, sometimes called "The Man Who Invented the Eighties".^[8][9]
• 17 July
  • Geezer Butler, bass player and songwriter (Black Sabbath, Geezer Butler Band, GZR, and Heaven & Hell)
  • Wayne Sleep, actor, dancer, and choreographer
• 28 July – Simon Kirke, English drummer (Bad Company and Free)
• 12 August
  • Mark Knopfler, singer, songwriter, guitarist and composer
  • Lou Martin, Irish-English pianist, songwriter, and producer (died 2012)
• 28 August – Hugh Cornwell (The Stranglers)
• 1 October – Allan Barty, folk musician (died 2008)
• 29 October – David Paton, guitarist, singer and songwriter
• 2 November – Frankie Miller, rock singer-songwriter
• 23 November – Sandra Stevens, singer with Brotherhood of Man
• 26 November – Martin Lee, singer with Brotherhood of Man
• 3 December – Nicky Stevens, singer with Brotherhood of Man
• 5 December – John Altman, film composer, arranger and conductor
• 8 December – Ray Shulman, violinist, guitarist, and producer
• 17 December – Paul Rodgers, rock vocalist
• 22 December – Robin Gibb (died 2012) and Maurice Gibb (died 2003) (Bee Gees
• date unknown – Eleanor Alberga, composer

Deaths

• 11 January – Edward Goll, Bohemian-born pianist, 64
• 15 January – Robert Evett, singer, actor, theatre manager and producer, 74
• 21 February – Ernest Walker, composer, pianist, organist, teacher and writer on music, 78
• 3 April – Basil Harwood, organist and composer, 89
• 3 May – David John Tawe Jones, composer, 64^[10]
• 6 September – Walter Widdop, operatic tenor, 51^[11]
• 30 October – Stanley Kirkby, baritone singer and variety artist, 71
• date unknown – Frank Clifford Harris, lyricist, 74

See also

• 1949 in British television
• 1949 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1949

References